4 research outputs found
Small-area Portable Resistive Plate Chambers for Muography
Muography is finding applications in various domains such as volcanology,
archaeology, civil engineering, industry, mining, and nuclear waste surveys. To
simplify transportation and installation in remote locations after laboratory
testing, a fully portable and autonomous muon telescope based on Resistive
Plate Chambers (RPCs) is being developed. Two glass-RPC prototypes have been
created, sharing the same design goals but with different detector parameters,
and comparative studies are ongoing. Drawing from prototype experience, a
double-gap RPC with advanced features and improved spatial resolution is
constructed. Resistive electrodes are produced manually, and a new data
acquisition board is currently undergoing calibration. The results on prototype
performance, readout board comparisons and the technical progress on the
double-gap RPC are presented
Portable Resistive Plate Chambers for Muography in confined environments
Muography (or muon radiography) is an imaging technique that relies on the
use of cosmogenic muons as a free and safe radiation source. It can be applied
in various fields such as archaeology, civil engineering, geology, nuclear
reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground surveys, etc.
In such applications, sometimes deploying muon detectors is challenging due to
logistics, e.g. in a narrow underground tunnel or mine. Therefore, we are
developing muon detectors whose design goals include portability, robustness,
autonomy, versatility, and safety. Our portable muon detectors (or
``muoscopes'') are based on Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC), planar detectors
that use ionization in a thin gas gap to detect cosmic muons. Prototype RPCs of
active area and were built in our
laboratories at Louvain-la-Neuve (UCLouvain) and Ghent (UGent) to test and
compare various design options. Benefiting from the experience gained in
building and operating these prototypes, we are proceeding towards the
development of improved prototypes with more advanced technical layout and
readiness. In this paper we provide the status of our performance studies,
including the cross-validation of the two types of prototypes in a joint data
taking, and an outline of the direction ahead
Portable Resistive Plate Chambers for Muography in confined environments
Muography (or muon radiography) is an imaging technique that relies on the use of cosmogenic muons as a free and safe radiation source. It can be applied in various fields such as archaeology, civil engineering, geology, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground surveys, etc. In such applications, sometimes deploying muon detectors is challenging due to logistics, e.g. in a narrow underground tunnel or mine. Therefore, we are developing muon detectors whose design goals include portability, robustness, autonomy, versatility, and safety. Our portable muon detectors (or “muoscopes”) are based on Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC), planar detectors that use ionization in a thin gas gap to detect cosmic muons. Prototype RPCs of active area 16×16 cm2 and 28 × 28 cm2 were built in our laboratories at Louvain-la-Neuve (UCLouvain) and Ghent (UGent) to test and compare various design options. Benefiting from the experience gained in building and operating these prototypes, we are proceeding towards the development of improved prototypes with more advanced technical layout and readiness. In this paper we provide the status of our performance studies, including the cross-validation of the two types of prototypes in a joint data taking, and an outline of the direction ahead